Archive Result

Soundfile 19960912GRBH3P

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Bloomfield Hills

Topic Three Principles of the Path

Transcriber Jill Neuwirth

Date 1/22/2021

(Announcements are read, introduces Gehlek Rimpoche, Audience applauds) [0:04:03.6] (Rimpoche speaks without microphone) So welcome to the, second set of the Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. And I’m sure many of you have been through the earlier introduction- is that a little too loud? So you got a basic knowledge. But still I would like to say a little bit about the Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism is actually nothing but than that of personal experience of Buddha’s life. How Buddha had his life, how he used to deal with his life, what difficulties he faced, how he had overcome, and why and what makes it overcome and that’s exactly sharing this experience is really important. There are mystical parts of it, there are very fundamental, very grounded part of it, and there’s all sorts of, I mean countless method I should say. It’s been shared in the Tibetan Buddhism.

[0:06:00.6] If you look in the Buddha’s life, it is nothing than that of life what we have, you and I have. It is nothing special, except Buddha happens to be Indian prince so he had a lot of privileges and advantages from the material point of view. Besides that, the problems that we face in life, specially mental, emotional, even physical, in the richest Indian prince probably did not have financial problems that we face, so Buddha may not share much hardness(?) [0:06:56.8] of the financial problems. But mental, emotional, physical is exactly problems that what we face today and that (Inaudible) [0:07:14.5] may be useful. So facing those problems, looking the way how to overcome these problems, and he get experience by overcoming the problems. Where is the problem coming from, and how and why. By knowing that how we can stop these problems affecting our mind. The bottom line that’s Buddhism.

[0:07:55.2] (Inaudible) The word Buddhism has some kind of strange mystical relation- religion where you sit down and close your eyes and then also some strange feelings and this and that are not necessarily fundamental Buddhism, I use the word fundamental there, there is room for that as well and there’s essence of (Inaudible) [0:08:23.0] but to be only to have that mystical part of thing affect to the individual, it is absolute requirement is the foundation, the fundamental basis of how to deal with life in a very ground level, day to day life how to deal with it. That is absolutely important. If you cannot deal with that and way you can deal with mystical part of it is utmost. I want you to remember that very clearly because people sometimes, few people taking it away the mystical point of view and that is mystical part and then you get it mysterious not your problem, not going to help it. At all. Mystical part will have its power, and when it is right to be function. And to make it right to be function we have to have a basic foundation. Fundamental basic everyday life that has to be right. And that is the foundation. So, the, it is true to the tradition that I am follow which always promotes some kind of old text that some teachers who wrote on the basis of their personal experience.

[0:10:05.3] So it is also true to that we follow certain text. If you do so, what happened is you don’t miss any point, any steps, because when you’re looking at the spiritual path, it’s a two ways of looking at this. One, you can just have a, some profound experience and then that’s about it and well, yeah, I felt it, it’s great, and wise and wonderful. And then, and then people go away. And that is not the real spiritual path where we try to look in (Inaudible) [0:10:49.9] Or we try to share here is a spiritual path that will make a difference in our life. That will make a difference in our life after life. And that make difference to our future lifes and that’s what we, at least I’m, looking for that. And, I mean it’s very difficulty you hear first time life after life. It is rather strange. But to me, it is real. Life after life is real. Life before life is also real, life after life is real. I like to talk to you a little bit about that. What happens when you die, this is most important point in our life.

[0:11:54.1] What happens when we die? I met a scientist in New York when we are doing a death and dying workshop. This medical doctor from, Saint (Inaudible) [0:12:18.3] or one of those. I mean they both of them (Inaudible) [0:12:21.3] Really joke because he had some kind of private plane fly back and forth because he had to treat people half here and half here. He wrote the book (Inaudible) [0:12:35.4] called How Dies and talks about dismantling the physical conditions, he’s medical doctor. And he told me, he told me, he goes, well, I haven’t met anybody who came back from the future life and shook hands with me, so I cannot really say it there, but when I look in all different religious tradition and all different things and I look at most personally associate with Tibetan Buddhism because, because, because it make lot of sense. But, don’t take it is scientific, I didn’t say it’s scientific, that’s what he said. Anyway, so, so what really happens is there two levels, the one level of physical body, our physical body completely become unserviceable. The doctors around here will agree with me, I’m sure they got to. And then, if the body has become unserviceable, then the, then the consciousness cannot remain because they’re unable to function in that.

[0:13:56.0] So very often I say it is like a rented apartment, and we lose the heat, we lose the water, then we lose the electricity, you lose the roof, you cannot live in that apartment you got to get out. Why? You know that. Very similar to this, our consciousness, or you may even call it the soul, is a living in the, in the rented physical apartment. That is our body. We live in there, we function as long as we can make, we can have function. And the moment we cannot function, we- I use the word we need. We need the body. The body and the mind then separates. When it is separates, then body becomes different, right? That different name for that too. Different. Then what happened to the consciousness, does it disappear or dissolve in the body? Then it goes away from the body. It goes away from the body. Where? Who knows? It goes away. It assumes a new, it is- it takes new identity. It’s taken new physical form, before you get actual physical, physical form you get mental form.

[0:15:54.8] I have a friend who came to the Jewel Heart summer retreat last year. Was it last year? Last one was in September. I don’t know it’s last year, last year. A young bright monk who had done the, the- is it too hot? Is it me or is it basically hot here? Hot. So please do something. (Laughing) (Speaks to audience about temperature) [0:16:29.5] Open the window or something? Thank you. (Inaudible) [0:16:38.3] (Speaks to audience) So the (monk’s name)(?) [0:16:53.5] was telling me his experience and he must about, what, 35, 40 now? Huh? (Noise interrupts, audience laughs) [0:17:16.1] So he was in India and he got sick and very high fever and sort of, he had one of those short death experience. So the experience is very funny experience he had. He had the experience, he happens to be one of these big building, I’m also forgetting what he told me. One of these big building and the where somebody is chasing him so he’s running round and hiding between- did he come to the, did he come to the summer retreat talk? (Inaudible) [0:18:09.1] He’s been chasing around and hiding behind certain boxes, cardboard boxes he reach on the path here. And somehow he been able to get out of it before anybody’s noticed.

[0:18:25.4] So he’s going out somewhere, and while he has a brother which he doesn’t even know he has, so he’s going out, going out to river in the south, and the, his brother died and he supposed to be carrying the body and supposed to throw them in the river or something. While he’s going he passed through a certain big, huge, monster building and where there’s two guards standing. The two guards came out and caught a hold of him from the right and left hand, and took him inside and where there’s sort of judgment hall where they’re giving judgments. And all sorts of things like that he said finally, he even he was punished they cut off his flesh and everything, all this sort of thing cut out and punished and all this. Then he, he came a little light, little candlelight, light continuously going towards south. He said he went through seventeen days like this. And the day after day he had experience of going(?) [0:19:40.1] And when finally when he wakes up, he suddenly realized he woke up be he didn’t real- he didn’t have no memory of how had he had come back. So what happened is he was sort of, very high fever and sort of unconscious and under coma sort of for two or three weeks and then finally went up. So he had that sort of funny experience.

[0:20:09.6] So I share his experience here, so that it’s gives us some idea what happens when the consciousness separates from the body. From the body, when you even see your physical body has been cut into pieces, you don’t feel pain and turmoil because you are no longer connected with that physical point yet your consciousness is still there with the medicine what(?) [0:20:44.7] And that consciousness, whatever the form it may take, the light is, is because we need to project something. So there is no physical form, it is too gross so light is a little lighter than gross physical form, so he had that memory of that he is got the little candlelight type of thing. So sat by a burning light. And though I don’t think he takes that big long candle going round right, sort of burning light in there. So that gives us the basic idea how our consciousness can really take a form and can really go and can meet and can experience good and bad bardo. That’s what happens when people die. Do not think it will go in that darkness and from that darkness you going to wake up, you do. You do go through with the darkness, but very darkness itself is, there are physical reasons for going in darkness. I’m not sure whether I should talk to you about it or not. Anyway. So from that darkness, what happened really is, the essence that we collect from the parents from the mother side and the father side, which is, which is basically, according to the Tibetan Buddhism that is basically base on which your consciousness remains.

[0:22:40.8] And we even call that indestructible, indestructible taking you by. So that is the indestructible part of it. And that indestructed and then you have all sorts of feelings which is may not be appropriate for me to talk here. But anyway, among the series of eight different ways that we observe such as sign that separation of the body and mind. The mind is really observer to form, very serious symptoms they observe and last of them we don’t have this. And out of that darkness we wake up. And you wake up then the consciousness begin to function, begin to function, so then goes everywhere, sees people, see your old body, and see who is happy and who is upset, and who enjoys that you died and who’s, who’s sad you died. And all of them you will observe but you can do nothing. That’s how it is. You can do nothing because you are disconnected with what’s, what we call it this life. And you’re disconnected this life.

[0:24:07.8] So therefore no one be able to see you, except few psychic people. They may be able to see you and observe you, and may be able to talk to you, however when you try to relay your message the fifty percent of people is not going to believe it anyway. But there may be ten percent may be very helpful, and twenty or thirty percent may take it or may not take it. And also there are hundreds of other who look like you, too. Don’t forget. That’s not only you, and along with you there is a lot of other beings just look like you with identify with your own name, who identify with your own deeds and all this sort of thing, they are there, so. So to be true at that time even to the psychic people are twenty percent. I don’t mean the psychic people are not. I’m telling you truth, however how authentic they are beyond what they can (?) [0:25:16.0] see is again big question. The question cannot be solved by our ordinary people and our ordinary mind by our ordinary (Inaudible) [0:25:30.3]

[0:25:31.2] That’s not the point. The point what I like to make here is then what happens to me? What happens to me? And what happens to me is I’m going to take rebirth for sure, whether it’s going to be a nice, wonderful, young human being or it’s going to be a very horrifying, fearful snake or scorpion or something. A scorpion. Scorpion or something. You never know. It is the simply by chance what we call it karma. What we technically call it the karma it is our own deed, which is our own deed which we created, and whatever that deed is leading to us and that’s what going to be clinging to our future life. That one Buddha said, we are responsible for our own deed whatever we do, we are responsible. That responsibility does not end what we end what we call this life. That responsibility of good deed, bad deed, is traveling with our consciousness in future life. So that’s exactly what karma means. That’s exactly what dharma means. What’s exactly life after life is.

[0:27:28.3] So when we, when Buddha said we are responsible for our own deeds, that is the person who had experience of that is making that statement based on his personal experience. And that is the light for us and that is the hope for us. That is the way for us to be able to travel on our future lifes. Are you with me? Thank you. That it is the principle point what makes (?) possible (?) [0:28:17.1] So our future life, what is going to happen? Forget about even future life, what’s going to happen even in this life. It’s all in our own hand. In nobody else’s hands. No one can tell you what you should do. No one can make you what you should be. It is only you and yourself alone can make that. Even you dislike, what’s going to happen to you, what you wanted to do, how you going to be look like, how you’re going to fashion your life. All of them in your own hand and you all know that very well.

[0:29:08.1] But you don’t want to take responsibility, you always hope to be somebody else will make our decisions. Somebody else will tell you what to do. Don’t we do that? We do that. Yet we don’t want to be slave. (Laughs) We’re against for that, right? We like freedom. Yes. But still we look for somebody else to tell you what to do. Should go here? Should I do this? Should I eat this? Should I wear that? Should I look for somebody else approval? What for? Make your own decision. You can ask somebody else’s opinion, but you don’t have to follow it, right? All the questions you ask they all have different opinions. Select by yourself. Don’t let anybody else take that right away from you. That’s (Inaudible) [0:30:17.9] And the future life too. What do you want to be your future life? How you want to be? Where you want to be? You have to make that decision. And how you do is by knowing, by knowing what possibilities. What brings what? What deed bring what result? And there you get the decision. That’s called spiritual path. If you don’t like it, I’m sorry. That’s all I know.

[0:30:51.4] What do you want to be in this life? How you want to live? How you want to be, where you want to spend your rest of your life? How comfortable you want to live and all these are material decisions, what’s called material. Maybe not. But it is material. The spiritually this life and the future life, lot of people think spiritual means only for the future life, has nothing to do with this life. That’s what (Inaudible) [ 0:31:26.0] Has very much to do with this life. So Buddha, knowing all this, experiencing all this, by knowing all this shared his experience. Particularly the bridge between what we call future life and how it functions, and this life. And this is the most important point. Because the future of our lives are more, much more longer, and much more longer, than what we call this life. This life is limited, no matter how long you live. You live a hundred years, or a hundred and what, twenty-five, thirty? I don’t, I don’t hear anybody who had hundred fifty years. Do we?

[0:32:26.1] No. So that is the maximum. The future life is a hundred and fifty or those number of times which is more, so which is more important part? I’m not try to push you to that believing in the reincarnation but that is real, that is true. You do not disappear. Believe me. Or don’t believe me. You do not disappear. You know? If you disappear, where the new bones are coming from? Where are they coming from? Who are they? Where they’re coming from? New insects. New birds. New snakes and new human beings. Where are they coming from? They are continuation of consciousness. Nu che (Quotes in Tibetan) [0:33:38.9] One thing what the Buddha insists, insist, is the continuation of consciousness is continuation of consciousness, consciousness. Non-consciousness cannot become a consciousness, nor the consciousness can be non-consciousness. That is the line drawn in there. In other words, the gods cannot become a consciousness, a human consciousness cannot become (Inaudible) [0:34:16.0]

[0:34:21.4] Consciousness will continue because it has knowledge, it has capabilities, and it’s always in that. But it depends how much what physical form you can get it. Each physical form has its own quality. The human beings can be best capability of all, according to Buddha. According to the Buddha, even the samsaric gods these are the small ‘g’ gods, sort of like angel type of thing. Small ’g’ gods. Samsaric gods have lesser capability than that of human beings. How much we look for outside? If we get some kind of single with close encounter with the third kind, how much do we get excited? Any of us, right? But they may have lesser capability than we get. As a human being we have a tremendous amount of capability. Tremendous amount of capability. Buddha did not said two thousand five hundred years ago that we knew it, by now we knew it, what we call those scientific achievements of human capabilities. Do not overlook that.

[0:35:43.0] It’s a human capabilities. Whether it is medical science, or whether it is the (Inaudible) [0:35:54.2] or whether it’s that new one they’re flying now, what is this- Audience: Stealth. Stealth. Rimpoche: Stealth. Okay. So whatever they are, all these are, or do those called scientific developments or technology or achievement, but it is human being’s achievement. The human mind (Inaudible) [0:36:19.5] that capability using different materials, making it be able to function that way. It is the human achievement. That is the human mind capacity demonstrated directly in the material form. That’s what it is. We also have equal capacity to be able to make in the spiritual. Buddha had mentioned two thousand five hundred years ago the capability of the material, scientific, technological capability and spiritual capability, mantra capability and meditative capability are equal. Two thousand five hundred years ago he said this is equal. This is equal. So whatever the materially which is technological or scientific achievement what we can get today as much as you can get that, you can get spiritual development.

[0:37:26.3] As matter of fact, spiritual capabilities more stable and solid than that of technological or scientific capabilities. The most of all is mantra. By saying mantras we (Inaudible) [0:37:44.9] capabilities (Inaudible) [0:37:46.9] Buddha himself said unreliable, the mantra power he said unreliable (Inaudible) [0:37:57.4] Whether second capability or the third one after the spiritual, material, meditative, and mantra. That how it goes. So whatever materially possible is also spiritually possible to achieve, and whatever spiritually possible to achieve it materially can achieve. So I would not be surprised if the great scientists discovered so called future life or past life out of lot of Harvard professors (Airplane flies close to window drowning out sound) [0:38:36.8] looking those Tibetan spiritual persons who meditated that he went over to the Harvard and put down, they try to measure they have a lot of information one of them told me I have tremendous amount of (Inaudible) [0:38:55.9] that I cannot release because I have no explanation. So we can only release what we have explanation. That’s what they tell me.

[0:39:06.4] So anyway, that is the beyond the point. The point really is, what we say, what we lead our body, where I’m going? Each one of us. Each one of us will have to go through that path. One day, sooner or later. We each one of us. Doesn’t matter whether you’re young or old, sick or healthy, beauty or ugly, whatever it is we all have to go through that path someday. One never know when and how. One never know. Never know. That is our reality. Sooner or later, we have to face it. We all know that. We all accept that, but we look way down the years, maybe two thousand years later, way down there, way down the road. We have all these different plans we do (Inaudible) [0:40:25.6] And we look, you know we may say days later but when you really look in our plans we’re looking like a thousand years down through, but that’s not going to be waiting that long. Why? Our physical body is not capable to still (Inaudible) [0:40:48.4] It’s going to give up one day.

[0:40:51.7] It is the based on four elements. Water element, the earth element, the fire element, and air elements. And they give up. They are impermanent. They are impermanent. That’s why you get older, we change our look, we change our hair color. We keep on dyeing. Even then it comes out. That’s what we do. That’s because it depends on the four elements. Earth element is our flesh and bones. And they become decay and they are not going to work. And the liquid in our body is the water element. They get rotten. They won’t work after a little while. The circulations are the air in our body and sometimes they can’t get through they’re blocked. The ways are blocked, things like they have different names (Inaudible) [0:42:05.3] or stroke, heart attack or something (Inaudible) [0:42:07.5] go through, so that’s what happens. Right? And then the heat power, when you lose the heat power, you cannot digest anything and you lose (Inaudible) [0:42:22.0] and heat. (Laughs) That’s what happens. That’s why I see (Inaudible) [0:42:29.9] So the physical body is incapable of serving so many years and that’s why we have to own everything. But, the question now remains, what can I do on day when that happens to me?

[0:42:50.6] What will help me? The money? Normally we look for any emergency to come we look for money because money solves all the problems, right? So we definitely start looking for money and saying, will money help me? Maybe. (Audience laughs) Maybe. Perhaps you can cash our life insurance at that time and see how they help. I don’t think, unfortunately doesn’t. It doesn’t help. The more longer, because we’re disconnected with this life so no longer it is no longer it is your check. You can’t cash it. If you go to the bank and take your own check and sign it they won’t give it to you. Saying that that’s not your account. That’s what they will say. They don’t want help. Money won’t help. What about the material? What about the friend? Maybe, maybe not. To some cases, yes, they can help. Don’t think you can do nothing, it’s not right. You can do something but you cannot do everything. Everything will remain on the responsibility of the individual. What I touch on I make in the Tibetan culture is it our own way meaning whatever the (Inaudible) [0:44:36.1] what you have to carry.

[0:44:37.4] So that’s why some old habit, is on our own personally (Inaudible) [0:44:49.0] So what personal responsibility you get? That’s your own karma. Your own deeds, good or bad. That makes your- (Audio cuts) [0:45:03.5] What happens is when you really die, when your consciousness is gone, it’s not completely lost. It’s like a little the leaves of tree, on big old tree in autumn fall from the tree and the storm comes and carries it. We see that all the time right before, right in here in autumn the leaves fall down and one big storm will come and carry all the different type of leaves together and get them in one corner somewhere it draws there for a few seconds and then another wind sort of go and carry that somewhere else (Inaudible) [0:45:45.6] and that is exactly how we are in this journey of life after life journey. We happens to be caught together in one corner where the wind dropped us. That’s what it is. Then another wind come and then will take few of them, few of them, will collect. And now they’re going to come and take it. That’s exactly how we (Inaudible) [0:46:14.0] You have no control (Inaudible) [0:46:17.1]

But whatever we become, it is our deeds, that we have done good for somebody or we are harming some people. That’s what it is. The good and bad is very difficult to make it what is good what is bad. It is very hard to make it. But basically if you’re harming somebody, if you’re harming somebody, then that’s bad and if you’re helping somebody that’s good. That is basically simply we accept that, whether it is in the Eastern tradition or Western tradition (Inaudible) [0:46:56.2] What is secretly what is good what is bad very difficult (Inaudible) [0:47:00.2] Each one of them is (Inaudible) [0:47:04.7] And the reason that I do this, hard to say. Anyway basically (Inaudible) [0:47:14.6] as harming others whether it is violently, physical, mental, emotional, violently (Inaudible) [0:47:22.5] somebody is bad. And you will have it is same consequences (Inaudible) [0:47:30.0] what they experience by your own consequences. If you’re be done helping somebody mental, physical, emotionally, and that result will give you a soothing environment for yourself. But that is all (Inaudible) [0:47:53.3] And that is all about our responsibility.

[0:47:58.5] So what happened is when you taken in by the wind and certainly you will caught in certain conditions, certain conditions that will, that will take you down from the wind blowing and keep you there, maybe it’s stick there for a while. Whatever (Inaudible) [0:48:20.8] Or piece of cow dung (Inaudible) [0:48:24.7] (Audience laughs) Whatever it might be, and that is exactly how the, how the (Inaudible) [0:48:32.7] and dropped down (Inaudible) [0:48:37.7] or the light (Inaudible) [0:48:42.6] So, those of people who have a spiritually highly developed their own, one of the signs of development, they can design their own future. You can choose where and when to be, how I’m going to be, how long I’m going to be, what I’m going to be, how much I’m going to be (Inaudible) [0:49:11.3] You can make the decision and you can (Inaudible) [0:49:17.3] that. It sounds so strange to you right now.

[0:49:20.5] But when it’s happens to you, you’ll know it, it’s true. But you may make the decision long before, and when are functioning do you have control to change, you don’t. People may think that you have control in your life, that means while it happening you can switch around what (Loud scraping noise) [0:49:47.3] you can push them til November, you can’t. Because the, because it is involves (Inaudible) [0:49:20.5] again karmic machine to work along with that. So therefore it is (Inaudible) [0:50:05.3] switch better. But you make choice. You make a choice long before and it happens and it effects where and how you want it. Or you hands change (Inaudible) [0:50:17.9] Anyway. How can you do that? How it is possible for me to be able to do that? Yes, the love and compassion, the ultimate love and compassion will make you capable of doing. That’s why everybody that says love and compassion is so (Inaudible) [0:50:46.1] No one says question love and compassion because they all (Inaudible) [0:50:53.8] if it’s something good. You all know that don’t we? And sort of consciously or unconsciously we know it. We don’t question that. We do.

[0:51:06.1] That is because we have a human instinct that will tell you love and compassion have that capability of (Inaudible) [0:51:16.5] That love and compassion is not a limited and conditioned love and compassion. It is unlimited, unconditioned love and compassion (Inaudible) [0:51:31.2] Are you with me? What do you mean by limited? What do you mean by conditioned? Limited, our love, that’s love what we have, you and I have, it is limited. Limited to one person or maybe two persons. (Laughing) One at a time. Anyway, it is limitation and also condition, condition it what’s in there for me? Usual, American, famous- what you call it that? Usual American famous way of talking. Yeah. What’s in there for me? And that is the condition that you bring. So going beyond limit of object of compassion we beyond limit of abstraction of compassion. So is the love is the unconditioned and limited and that give you that result and while (Inaudible) [0:52:52.3] that will take you beyond (Inaudible) [0:52:56.5]

[0:52:56.3] The all power lies at the love, compassion, and wisdom. That is the method. That’s the way. That is the path. So in order to develop that, in order to help that with ourselves it is through extremely important that we remain touch, (Inaudible) [0:53:32.0] We have to know our own conditions. We have to have to have compassion for ourselves. We have to have love to our self. If you are incapable of developing love to yourself, you are incapable of love (Inaudible) [0:53:53.6] It is love of the (Inaudible) [0:53:56.5] We find our self incapable of loving our self we cannot expect to love others. Because we are incapable. So first and foremost, develop a love and compassion to our self. (Inaudible) [0:54:23.9] to your own nose and saying this man. This man in the self, this person. I don’t mean man (Inaudible) [0:54:35.7] This person. As you develop love and compassion on this person holding (Inaudible) [0:54:46.7]

[0:54:45.5] So why you want to have compassion on you, because we have a problem. This person is full of problems. Full of problems. Don’t think I am talking to (?) [0:55:03.2] Full of problems. I have emotional problems. I have mental, physical, all sorts of problems. I am above all, this person has tremendous ego (Inaudible) [0:55:21.5] (Audience laughs) And the such an ego problem can make the individual suffer tremendously. And that’s our condition. Knowing that, acknowledging that, doesn’t matter who you are, we change our name every life, we change our physical shapes in every life, doesn’t matter. Sometimes you’re fat and short. Sometimes you’re thin and handsome. So that happened, doesn’t matter. The name doesn’t matter. But what does matter is the conditions in which you are in, which makes you feeling good or bad, sad and miserable. That makes the (Inaudible) [0:56:11.6] That is the more concern than who you are. That in spite of who you are. (Inaudible) [0:56:18.7] That’s me. I am me. For the name might be John or Eric or whatever, doesn’t matter. Although there is- (Audience coughs over words) [0:56:34.2]

[0:56:36.3] Whether I’m happy or whether I’m sad, or miserable, and that makes difference to me. So that’s what we, we need to know what, and what condition we are and once we know that we can develop compassion for our self. Once you develop compassion for yourself, you can make your mind seeking freedom from all this miseries that we experience. Within our self due to our- what we call it that? Neurosis. That’s the one torturing us all the time. Our ego, our anger, our jealousy, our hatred, our attachment. That make us to make difficult in our life. You look back and look in your own life and the sadness and the miseries that you gone through and point me out of one of them did not cause by one of those neurosis. Give me one example. I swear you to total (Inaudible) [0:58:00.4] No one can do it. You can blame somebody else- if so-and-so didn’t do it that way, I would have been better. This is the excuse. Blaming on somebody else is makes reflecting to yourself how you see.

[0:58:20.3] And your perceive that you hurt our ego and you experience pain. That is 99.9 percent of our problem completely. Physical, mental, emotional. So that’s why Buddha recommend us what I like to call lately, called Buddhist 101. Is a seeking freedom from all this neurosis. That when you go home, when you go back home tonight if you can (Inaudible) [0:59:12.0] what did you get, the message what you got today is seek freedom from neurosis. It’s a very simple, short, and clear. Seek a freedom from neurosis. The question of how we had (Inaudible) [0:59:54.9] whatever are going to be what we talk about that now you’re going to see. The goal here, the purpose here, the mission of your life is seeking freedom from the neurosis. It’s a mission of your life. Because this life what we have now, a human form, a human life, is an extraordinary capacity than any other life, dogs or cats or birds or look at, look always the other beings around us besides (Inaudible) [1:00:42.1] and we have a better capacity. So that better capacity has purpose. The purpose is to get yourself free from those. That’s your mission for your life.

[1:01:01.4] That’s your purpose of life. That’s your spiritual step number one. That’s your Buddhism 101, that’s your spiritual path 101, that’s, that’s what it is. Whether you give name of Buddhism or any other religions, doesn’t matter. The purpose is to get yourself free from those. Once you get free yourself, you have a control in the storm that carries you life after life differently. You have control. Then you have vehicle to go in there. The vehicle with the steering wheel we can steer here and there. I guess I don’t have much more to say don’t remember the rest of it. Close to my (Inaudible) [1:02:13.2] Oh. This one I didn’t even start this one here (Inaudible) [1:02:20.1] What this one will tell you is basically steps how one can get freedom from the neurosis. This is based on the Buddha’s experience told by great many disciples of the Buddha one after another and the person who wrote this happens to be 14th century teacher. So based on his personal experience. How he found way out of those circles. That’s how it is. So not going to really talk on this tonight. But still I should read this little bit.

[1:03:10.4] Following the kind master, foundation of all perfection is the very root and basis of the path. Empower me to see this clearly and to make every effort to follow well. Well, this is Tibetan Buddhism for this tradition. All Buddhist traditions, all Eastern religious traditions where they say kind master, or guru devotional practice, is one of the basis, the fundamental basis of all development. I don’t think it’s very much relevant to us at this moment unless you have some questions which I will be able to share my thoughts with you. Don’t think I have all the answers, but otherwise not very much relevant for our, us just now. What will be more relevant for us, is the second verse. Precious human life, gained but once has the great potential but is easily lost. Empower me to remember this constantly and to think day and night of taking its essence. Precious human life, Buddha don’t say it life, Buddha did not say human life, said precious human life. Precious. We may ignore our life, we may pay no attention to our life. We may reject our life, our life is precious. Extremely important. Extremely important and precious. One of the reason why Buddhism is here is to embrace the life rather than (Inaudible) [1:05:27.2] That’s (Inaudible) [1:05:30.2] Embrace life, not reject. Why? Because it has tremendous potential capability and (Inaudible) [1:05:41.3] When we have it, we must focus on our mission. Even you cannot focus, but attempt to touch with our goal. Make attempt to make (Inaudible) [1:05:57.4]

[1:06:03.5] Anyway, this particular verse will be the subject of next Thursday here and those of you who are interested to read this (Inaudible) [1:06:16.6] there are commentaries available. (Speaks to audience about commentary) [1:07:35.5] Okay, anyway, so then there’s I would recommend you people to read Chogyam Trungpa’s book called Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism and I (Inaudible) [1:07:53.9] you to read that. And also there’s a (Inaudible) [1:08:00.3] I think that will be the best. And also the Meditation Handbook wrote by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso taken (Inaudible) [1:08:08.5] Small little yellow one. (Speaks to audience about book choices) [1:08:18.8] And there’s Three Principles of the Path (Inaudible) [1:08:51.1] At least give you the idea. So the subject what we’ll be talking about is the life, it is important, it’s preciousness, and what you can achieve, and what you cannot achieve will probably be next Tuesday- Thursday. Any questions? Yes Sir?

[1:09:18.3] Audience: (Inaudible) Reincarnation? Why is it that we don’t remember our past life so we would be able to learn from our mistake or from our knowledge and move ahead quicker? Rimpoche: Why don’t we remember what happened in childhood? Many times what happens during our childhood we don’t remember. What happened yesterday, we all can remember that. So that’s what it is. (Inaudible) [1:09:52.4] and the shock of death When you separate your consciousness from the body, it’s not easy. It is a big shock. What happens is the gross mind, the mind what we recognize each other, remember our names and remember our conversations, those are gross mind and each one of these gross mind will leave it. We don’t take that. We leave it. Because (Person coughs) [1:10:25.8] when you go and pack you cannot carry so many luggages. You leave all of them. You have a garage sale. (Audience laughs) So that’s what we do.

[1:10:40.8] So all of them will collect in some kind of essence, some kind of simple little thing called imprint. Imprint in our consciousness is something like something like IOU or type of note that checks in our consciousness. So all our gross mind will leave that and go to very subtle mind. Very subtle mind, subtle, lucid, but not a big mind so therefore we don’t recognize this, we don’t remember their name, we don’t remember our own name, and do not remember our own deeds. We do not remember our own house address, companion or all them because we need the gross mind. Even some disease we got it and when they started cutting down on our gross mind you have the same symptoms. Same symptoms because they started cutting on the gross mind. You have Parkinson’s disease and all sorts of things, all of those started cutting the so called memory is gross mind leaving. It’s the beginning of (Inaudible) [1:12:11.0]

[1:12:11.9] So at the end just before people die, they do not remember their own name. They don’t recognize people because that memory mind that is been cut and gone. So that’s why you don’t remember. The second way we don’t remember what happened yesterday is (Inaudible) [1:12:40.4] Audience: Something in memory research Rimpoche: There’s always exception. (Audience laughs) True. I mean it’s true. It’s like (Inaudible) [1:12:51.7] but it’s not. Always there’s different people (Inaudible) [1:12:58.3] The basically the always what I was told basic structure how you how (Inaudible) [1:13:14.2] the gross memory we don’t. Yes Ma’am? Audience: What about the relationship between, what about the relationship between people who describe near death experiences and what you’re talking about? Is there- Rimpoche: I’m sure there is lot of near death experience and return from death there’s two different things. And I don’t know much about people who talk with (Inaudible) [1:13:48.0] experience because I’m not familiar with the number one I don’t read English, very hard for me to read.

[1:13:54.8] So I don’t read. I don’t have much knowledge to talk about that but one thing what I notice this sort of, you know this return from death there a lot of those stories both in Eastern tradition and Western tradition. All the Western tradition are talking about the light and coming back from the light and Eastern tradition the light is missing. There are different trad- way to judgment and passing the judgment and what happens and all this. Audience: The Eastern tradition? Rimpoche: Yes. There’s not, they don’t talk so much about the light. The light is there but don’t talk much about the light. The Western tradition they talk about the light I do not know why. Maybe Eastern people have some kind of information and then they think what’s happening beyond light or they, they maybe who knows, I’m not saying it is. Could be. The Western people is normally to observe what you see and what you hear. So that maybe they’re seeing the light. Who knows? Whatever the reason is, just two different I noticed. The near-death experience is slightly different when you look at the death processing how people die, the first process does not go through all the way and the eighth step they go through three, four, five and they reverse. Or two, three and reverse and four, five, six, seven and reverse. And this are the near death experience.

[1:15:48.8] Yes? Yes. Audience: (Inaudible) reincarnation I was curious, I was thinking since a lot of animal kingdoms are now dying the human population is growing tremendously could we infer that the human population is reincarnating more into human form and- Rimpoche: Possible. Possible. That is possible. Why not? Audience: Is our consciousness survive the body- Rimpoche: Survives the body? Audience: Like outlives the body and functions without the body, why do we need incarnate to develop (Inaudible) [1:16:37.2] Rimpoche: Huh. Because we don’t want to repeat the same experience. We want to go beyond that. That’s called samsara (Inaudible) [1:16:54.0] The cycle of life, continuation you go in each incarnate you go beyond it. Why? As long as you (Inaudible) [1:17:11.8] If you go beyond that you didn’t (Inaudible) [1:17:20.1] That makes you think, yes. That makes you think. Audience: So it’s necessary to incarnate in order to develop to a certain levels? Rimpoche: Right. It is natural law that makes you incarnate. Yes. Yes Sir? Audience: So then if you reach a state of enlightenment is it not possible to let’s say, skip over the reincarnation into these human forms and just proceed to a different level of consciousness or, or energy of some sort?

Rimpoche: (Inaudible) [1:18:12.7] Audience: Yes basically- (Audience laughing) basically what I’m asking is- Rimpoche: What really happens when you, the word enlightenment. Enlightened beings, their mind level, their body level, their speech level is beyond our capacity. Which produces pure and ultimate form accomplishment. It’s a big difference, isn’t it. It is totally big difference. The mind itself is different because the knowledge from the mind have been (Inaudible) [1:19:02.0] Different in the sense their very mind at that level is moving of all-knowing. All-knowing what it ever might be happening in the higher level, (Inaudible) [1:19:22.7] international whatever is happening is known together simultaneously at once. That’s total knowledge and total (Inaudible) [1:19:35.0] That capacity we don’t have it. And since we don’t have it, our limited knowledge will also came up to simultaneously together so they have to function one after another. The capacity of enlightened level will go beyond that. You function together, you see all together, you know all together yet you don’t thinking crazy. So that’s the difference. That is an example of mind (Inaudible) [1:20:14.9] Then (Inaudible) [1:20:20.2]

[1:20:20.4] Audience: I wanted to play off the question a minute ago- Rimpoche: Go ahead. Audience: She said why would anybody incarnate and I don’t (Inaudible) [1:20:29.1] people that I meet that think, they say this is my last time and they’re really convinced this is their last time and, and a lot of people don’t really want to be here first, of course people who really want to be here and talk to the world (Inaudible) [1:20:42.0] How do people if they don’t want to be here and the idea why do we- what is the reason that we incarnate? The law? I mean, why the highest (Inaudible) [1:20:55.7] court why can’t we get a life on Tara’s planet? And- Rimpoche: You can. Who says you cannot? Audience: You say we don’t have to incarnate on Earth? Rimpoche: Yeah but you don’t. Just really don’t. Audience: (Inaudible) [1:21:13.1] Rimpoche: (Inaudible) one of the extraordinary thing about Vajrayana Buddhism offers enlightenment within the lifetime. So that is, that is the extraordinary (Inaudible) [1:21:26.3] in Vajrayana Buddhism. Which is don’t have to reincarnate, you don’t have to. You don’t.

[1:21:32.1] Audience: But you have to incarnate first. Rimpoche: No. You don’t. You’re already incarnated whether you like it or not. That’s what it is. That’s right, yeah. So, so, so that you can end this. That’s what Vajrayana offers. That surprise you? Audience: No, I understand that, what I don’t understand is why I would do that when I’m a more limitless being to begin with? Why do I (Inaudible) [1:21:58.0] reality to do that? Rimpoche: Right. Why did they do it? Audience: Yeah why? Rimpoche: Why did they do that? You know why? Because we didn’t choose. We didn’t get to the (Inaudible) [1:22:16.0] We did not (Inaudible) [1:22:18.3] Either you did not (Inaudible) [1:22:28.1] Audience: But you could also come back, I mean you can come back in a whole new way. Rimpoche: Why you come back? Who can come back? Audience: Buddha came back, right? Rimpoche: You said you can come back if you want to. You know a lot of people like the incarnations. (Inaudible) [1:22:58.4] some very happily accepted in the west. So what- (Inaudible) [1:23:16.0] That’s what it is. I’m going to quit. (Audience laughs and applauds)